Kanye West Reveals How Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G. & J Dilla Influence His Work

Kanye West says he has "to work on behalf of Dilla" and that "the best respect" he can pay fallen artists "is to never sell out."

Kanye West speaks about how several people have influenced his work in a clip from

"It’s amazing," West says. "How could we lose Biggie, Pac, Dilla, Steve Jobs, Michael Jackson? It almost feels like the Devil’s winning. We gotta make music and think, 'If Dilla was alive, would he like this?' I have to work on behalf of Dilla.

"When I put a weird-ass Jamaican sample, it works at first but it’s not until I put the [makes discordant musical noise] that it sounds like art or sounds slightly wrong," he adds. "And now it’ll go to the radio now that it’s wrong, motherfucker. Now play this. Play this 5-minute song that completely fucks up your programming. The best respect that we can pay to great artists that have inspired us so much is to never sell out."